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Alexis Sanchez would have supplemented Manchester City’s attack - he could reboot United’s
Alexis Sanchez was born in Tocopilla, a mining and fishing port in northern Chile that is known as the “city of energy” because of the electricity it generates for the region, which is fitting because it is a spark the striker will bring to Manchester United.
There are mercurial attackers who are unpredictable in the sense that they can be inspired for a couple of weeks and then go missing for a couple of months. Then there are the game-changing forwards who are unpredictable by virtue of being consistently difficult to second guess and who, in turn, consistently deliver.
Sanchez belongs firmly in the second category. He will bring consistent unpredictability to an attack that, for some time, has looked effective but functional, as opposed to fast and furious, and at least one pedigree player short of having its truer potential unlocked.
Watching Jose Mourinho playing around with the make-up of his forward line at Old Trafford has been like the guy who is routinely a right move or two away from solving a Rubik’s cube – a breakthrough briefly beckons but completion remains frustratingly elusive. Sanchez ticks several boxes – aggressor, creator and predator who can play across the front.
He will bring creativity and cutting edge, blistering pace, intensity, width and variety going forward and, in the process, he should have a galvanising effect on those around him, from Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial to Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, not to mention Paul Pogba, who could be the biggest beneficiary of the lot. Whereas Sanchez would have supplemented Manchester City’s attack, he could help reboot United’s.
In those games when United are dominating possession and opponents are defending deep in numbers, Sanchez is adept at finding pockets of space and has the speed and skill to exploit them. When United are sitting back and playing on the counter, a tactic Mourinho often adopts in big games, the Chilean can provide one of the game’s outstanding passers, Paul Pogba, with an electrifying outlet. Sanchez could be to Pogba what Cristiano Ronaldo was to Michael Carrick.
The Premier League looks beyond United this season but Mourinho’s reactive approach suits knockout football and Sanchez’s skill-set will do United’s Champions League aspirations no harm. Mourinho has been searching for the players to fully maximise Pogba’s talents. Nemanja Matic’s arrival from Chelsea last summer was an important step towards that, Sanchez is another. Perhaps only if United acquire another top class midfielder in the summer will Mourinho have the set-up around the Frenchman he wants but he is getting there.
Sanchez is likely to be deployed on the right of an attacking quartet or centrally, in behind Lukaku, but crucially he provides options, whether in a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-2-1-3 or 3-4-2-1.
The goals have not been coming as plentifully of late for Lukaku but his all-round game is improving and having Sanchez playing off, around or alongside the Belgium striker will aid that process. Mourinho may also feel he has more opportunity to rest Lukaku now. A Martial-Rashford-Sanchez attack will surely get the occasional airing. No one has made more appearances than Rashford’s 88 under Mourinho. Martial may be the manager’s preferred pick at the moment but Rashford will get his chance.
If there is another immediate casualty beyond the Arsenal-bound Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is effectively trading places with Sanchez, it is likely to be Juan Mata. The Spaniard has often been asked to occupy that right-sided position Sanchez will now assume, and given how reluctant Mourinho has been to deploy Mata in his preferred No. 10 spot, it is doubtful he will suddenly be shifted inside.
Sanchez has been involved in 166 goals in 241 league appearances for Udinese, Barcelona and Arsenal since 2011/11. Only 10 players in the world have made more of an impact over that period. United are finally getting a No. 7 worthy of the number.